wolf, as you go through the states, a lot of counting to do. look at the big picture, advantage obama. >> getting ready to close voting on the west coast, including on california, and we've got some major projections right now. cnn can project that california will be won by the president of the united states. all 55 -- a huge number, largest number of united states. all 55 electoral votes will go to the president. hawaii, where he was born, four electoral votes, the president will carry hawaii. he will also carry washington state on the west coast, 12 electoral votes, they all go for the president of the united states. mitt romney, some wins on the west coast in idaho. four electoral votes in idaho and three in montana. right now, can't make a pro in oregon. don't have enough information

right now, but let me show where you the race for 270 stands right now. the president, not now taking the lead. 228 for president obama to 176 for mitt romney. 270 needed to be elected president. the yellow states out there, those are the states we have not yet made projections in. as we wait for more real votes to come, we want to share what our exit polls are revealing. these are estimates, based on interviews with a sampling of voters as they left select polling stations and based on phone interviews we made with a sampling of people who voted early. here is our exit poll results for the state of oregon. the president, 52%. mitt romney with 45%, remember, this is an estimate, an estimate only, that reflects the votes of the people we interviewed at select polling places. early voters, we interviewed on the phone as well.

they may not reflect the actual outcome in a particular state once we get the final vote tallies, watching all of this. those states we just rejected, california, we knew it was going to go for the president, but it certainly adds to his road to 270. >> let's just do some common sense. common sense. some of this is, you know, educated guesses. this is common sense. oregon, likely to stay right there. most people, even most republicans will tell you, nevada will stay right there. new mexico, likely to stay in the blue column right there. we'll see if that changes. if do you that very hard, republicans at home can't argue strongly. that gets the president to 246. i'll leave colorado. that's a battleground state. come across here, and, wolf, the president 246, look here. let's assume that one goes red. looking here, this ten right

here, wolf, let me go to you. you will move the map for me. >> let's get to more projections. important ones, in fact, right now. moving quickly right now, wisconsin, we project will be won by the president of the united states. it's ten electoral votes will go for president obama the home state of the republican vice presidential nominee, paul rye arrange cnn projects wisconsin will be in the president's corner. north carolina on the other hand, we project will be won by mitt romney and its 15 electoral votes will go for mitt romney. where do we stand now? on the road to 270? electoral votes needed to be elected president of the united states? the president is ahead with 238. inching closer and closer to 270. mitt romney, 191. you can see the yellow states out there those are the yellow states where we have not yet made projections, but we have

votes coming in. john, republicans really wanted to win wisconsin. they thought paul ryan would help. won the recall election, won big time in 2010, but the president will once again carry wisconsin. >> think about the romney strategy in the final weeks of the campaign. no republican has ever won the white house without carrying ohio. they say what do we do? they said we need a plan b. that's pennsylvania. plan c, michigan. that's in the presidential poll. we need a plan d. wisconsin would be ten of those and find somewhere else. plan b, plan c, plan d are gone. look at the romney map and say what's plan e? if you start looking at where is plan e? forgive me, history tells us that's will stay there. latino vote, likely to stay there. and republicans should be listening to this over and over again. latino vote could make a

difference here. let's assume missouri keeps republican dna, president obama didn't carry that four years ago. that gets you to 256. the president needs only 14. if this happens as expected, the president needs only 14. key do this with colorado and iowa. never mind ohio, where he's leading right now. never mind florida where he's leading right now. never mind virginia. it's still in play because votes are out. plan b, plan c, plan d are gone. i have a hard time coming up with a plan e. don't ask me about a plan f. >> stand by. another major projection right now. cnn projects that the democrats will maintain their majority. harry reid will continue to be the senate majority leader. a major win for the democrats in the senate. earlier, we projected

republicans would retain their majority in the house of representatives, let's go to anderson and dana for more. >> particularly in virginia, a tight race. >> the democratic seat is staying in democratic hands. this was a very tight race. the former governor will be the new senator from the state of virginia. tim kaine. and in california, dianne feinstein, winning an easy re-election, and in hawaii, a new democrat, mazie hirono, they thought maybe she would win. >> let's look at the balance of power. >> look at this. it's very clear as wolf just reported. democrats will be able to

maintain power of the senate. what is the balance of power? i think it's really important to underscore going into today -- or going into the election year, democrats defending 23 out of 33 seats with this bad economy, republican has to pick up a net four. they thought it was a no brainer. a lot of republicans very upset. there was a combination of unforced errors, bad candidates that really set them back. republicans are depressed is probably an understatement. >> a very different story than four years ago. >> very much so. some might think republicans might lose seats by the end of the night. >> let's check in with david gergen and gloria borgeer. the question, what happens now? what happens tomorrow assuming president obama is eelected in terms of getting things done.

does anything really change? >> no, i don't think anything does change. before this evening, i was talking to an aide to -- a republican aide to a leader in the senate who says nothing is changed unless the president comes to us and proposes something that we can live with on the fiscal cliff. we're not going to be willing to deal with him. >> i think, however, to dana's point about how upset and depressed republicans are, they had a couple of real opportunities in 2010 and, again, to try and regain power in the senate and, again, it's the tea party in 2010, three seats they could have won, and they kind of threw them away. >> i'm nervous to turn to alex castelanos. >> i'm going for the hemlock here. you know, i think there is a chance we'll get something done.

>> where do you see that? >> if president obama is re-elected. that's if, a long way to go. the congress will be re-elected every two years. a lot of pressure. hard to move. this president won't be on the ballot again. he's demonstrated tremendous flexibility before, bush tax cuts, keeping guantanamo open. i think he knows he will be judged by history, but whether he gets his hands around the fiscal health of this country. now, he can move 80% to where republicans are. he can embrace something like simpson-bowles. good news? there's no agenda. >> another projection to make. >> another major projection to make right now in another key battleground state.

the president of the united states will be the winner in iowa, and its six electoral votes, the president will carry. right now, 53% of the votes in iowa, counted, the president has a 55-44 lead, 98,648 votes advantage in iowa. thrilled over there at president obama's campaign headquarters in chicago. dancing over there at campaign headquarters, watching what's going on, jessica yellin is watching as well. you know what? let's listen in briefly. a little bit of the celebration that's going on at chicago -- in chicago, over at obama headquarters. jessica, are you there? >> i'm here, wolf. an enormous enthusiasm in this room as they have been watching returns come in all night. this was a campaign they didn't know for so long if it would turn out with a night like this.

for these people, they remember four years ago, a very different mood throughout the campaign, a campaign based on a very different theme of hope and change. this time, a battle focused on dem carafics, on ground game, an operation driven to turnout specific people who are obama supporters. >> dana hold on for a second. sorry to interrupt. we have yet another fro pro-jekz to make right now. and cnn projects the president will carry new mexico. new mexico will be won by the president of the united states. add another five electoral votes to his column. the president carries new mexico. 52-44 advantage with more than half of the vote counted. let's see where it stands right now, if we add up, his electiorl votes, on the basis of new mexico being in his counter, 249. getting closer and closer and closer to the 270 he needs to be

re-elected president of the united states. mitt romney, 191. they are thrilled obviously in chicago. jessica, i interrupted you a moment ago . how thrilled are they? >> they are thrilled in this room. i talked to the people back at the obama boiler room, they are still staying cautious on e-mail and in their contacts and waiting for all of the final numbers to come in. but there is a great deal of enthusiasm here as you can see, they also get excited any time they see themselves on tv. that's part of the cheering, when they see their picture up. huge excitement. the president watching this from a hotel room not far away, with his wife and two girls, and friends and family were gathered in town, and they will be joined

by the vice president and his family when they head over here later this evening and chicago mayor rahm emanuel and a whole bunch of people who will put on quite a -- what they said would be an early night and victorious night. that's what they predicted wolf. they said it would come out that way. and so far, that's what it's looking like, wolf. >> let's stay in chicago. brianna keilar in the crowd. they seem pretty excited as the president gets closer and closer to 270. he has 249 by our count right now. >> the excitement in downtown chicago is really building with each projection ha comes out, especially when we sawa wa, we'll tell you, standing among people, 10,000. >> bre anna, hold on a moment. we can't hear you. that crowd is very excited right

now. let's go to john king. the president, 249. not that far away from the 270 he needs to be elected. >> takes 270. 21 shy. this is a safe bet. have to count votes. oregon, a democratic state very long time. that would get the president 256. some republicans say watch, watch, watch. they expect that to go right there. that puts the president at 262. you know what that means, wolf? you look at anyone left. pick one more state, turn one more blue, four more years. you have to count these, haven't officially called these. history is history. and reporting shows very strong, oregon will stay blue. nevada likely to stay blue. comes to that, 262. that would put it over the top. he won't win missouri. and virginia's 13 would put him over the top. leading in florida. that's 29. that's called way over the top. you look at this map right now, you are a republican, and we're

just counting the votes. we don't take sides here. but getting mitt romney to 270, it's almost impossible completely improbable. >> stand by for a moment. another projection to make right now. cnn jekpro jektjects that the p will carry oregon. 59% to 38%. where does that put him on the road to 270? got 256 electoral votes. 191 for mitt romney. well on his way to 270. you see yellow states there. those are states we have not yet made projections in. the president getting closer and closer and closer to that magic number of 270. john king, as you say, any one of the other states could push him over the top quickly.

>> it's an assumption. and i know some are saying we will prove you wrong. inside the romney campaign will push back a little. they won't push back hard. this is a conversation we'll have for weeks and weeks and months and months. they expect because of the latino vote that one will stay blue. that will put the president 262. wolf, colorado will put him over the top. we don't expect him to win missouri. any one of these would put him over the top. ease ahead in ohio. at the moment, ahead in florida, that's 29. let's switch the map and see where we're looking at it right here. ohio would put the president over the top. governor romney still in play. you look at what's out? a lot of the vote that's out is in the president's territory in cuyahoga county. looking for a mitt romney comeback strategy? can it come from ohio? it's unlikely.

florida, a narrow but stubbornly consistent lead for the president in florida. another projection. coming in pretty quickly. let's take a look. cnn projects missouri will be won by the presidential nominee for the republicans, mitt romney. more than 50% of the vote in. 58% for romney. 40% for barack obama. we are projecting missouri will go for mitt romney. where does it put us on the road to 270? romney at 201. the president of the united states, significantly ahead, at 256. so missouri, helps mitt romney, but maybe not enough. >> maybe not enough. the only sure bet for governor romney is the state of alaska. let's assign the state of alaska to governor romney. 204. look at the map right here, at the moment, the president is

favored in nevada, the president leading in colorado. the president leading in florida, the president is leading in virginia, last time i look, president obama leading in virginia, narrowly. that's a relatively safe bet, that gets the president to 262. after that, any one state gets you over the top. >> we've got a really major projection to make. right now. cnn projects barack obama will be re-elected president of the united states and will remain in the white house for another four years, because we project he will carry the state of ohio. by carrying ohio, he wins re-election, the president of the united states defeats mitt romney in this -- at this time right now, we have made this projection, so the president wins this battle for the white house. they are excited in chicago. excited at times square in new york.

watching all over the world right now. the president of the united states has been re-elected right now. let's listen in to some of the excitement. >> whoo! [ cheers and applause ] >> you can see, the empire state building now has turned blue, because that is our projection, the president of the united states has won re-election, let the world know that 11:18 p.m. on the east coast of the united states, we projected this, the win of barack obama for another four years, the president will be the winner. mitt romney will lose the electi election, we'll see what happens in the other states. let's go to jessica yellin right now. chief white house correspondent

watching all of this unfold in chicago. jessica. >> well, the euphoria in the room is evident. these people have worked hard for the president, everyone in this room was in one way or another a volunteer for the campaign. this was a very different kind of campaign from 2008 what is not different is the kind of coalition the president put together to re-elect him. a very different vision and makeup of america that is diverse, that is heavily latino, african-american, relied on single women and where the president played heavily to their interests. and this is a kind of coalition the president made clear. he was interested in appealing to, and it's a lesson that the republican party will learn from. i had also point out, wolf, that the president did make some explicit promises about what he would do in a second term.

cutting the deficit and not extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, among others. >> jessica hold on for a moment. i want to listen to some of the people cheering. so excited right now. the president's supporters at times square, chicago, elsewhere around the world. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ]

♪ what you want baby i got it what you need you know i got it all i'm asking is for a little respect just a little bit just a little bit just a little bit ♪ >> let's go back to chicago. brianna keilar in the middle of the crowd. get that microphone right up to your mouth. >> hi, wolf. a very excited crowd here, but i will tell you, did i talk to some people after our projection of ohio, and i said are you surprised that things wrapped up so early? and they said, yes. i think people here were settling in for a rather long night. they thought it would be more suspen suspenseful. very excited, obviously, wolf, with each projection that comes

out, they get more excited and this is going to be continuing on. many of the people here were volunteering for president obama. these are illinois-based volunteers. they went door knocking, phone banking in wisconsin and iowa, key battleground states for president obama, these are people that really feel like they have ownership in his re-election here, wolf. >> very excited in chicago right now. i assume they are excited all over the country. a they worked to get the president re-elected. interesting, ohio, he will carry the state of ohio, so the president goes on to win another four years in the house. anderson, four years ago we projected his win at 11:00 p.m. on the east coast. tonight, we projected his win 8 8 minutes later.

11:18 p.m. >> let's talk to panelists, contributors, analysts. initial thoughts? >> boy, that hurts. but the current president of the united states is the future president of the united states. and it's time for us to remember what this is all about. and that's about leading the country to a better place. so now i think it's incumbent for republicans to be as gracious as they were passionate about this election. and go sit at the table, see what we can do. >> i agree. i think the republican party is a great party historically. party of teddy roosevelt, abraham lincoln. a party i respect and admire. maybe some elements that pulled it too far in one direction, that can be corrected. this is an opportunity for to us come together, and it's a 50/50 country. and i think for people who saw

the president struggling and wanted him to have a second chance, a big moment for us, but also a big opportunity for the country. >> do you think that's the message that the republican party takes away? too far to the right? a lot of elements say they were true to conservative values? >> i think the republican party will step back as it did in 2008. i think there will be a lot of fighting, the republican party is made up of many different factions. libertarians, social conservatives. fight over the narrative of who will control the republican party and no elected leader. >> you don't win the middle as a republican by becoming a democrat, by "moderating." if you're tied and want to make market share, you don't say, hey, i'm more like that. you say i'm new improved. the republican party needs to

move forward, not sideways. >> i will put this in the proper perspective. i had an opportunity to go to the jefferson memorial today. it reminds you of what a penchant of democracy this is. a wonderful country to have an election like this. and an african-american to not only win once, but twice, there is something about that that speaks to what america is, the promise. my interpretation of a lot of the data, there were an awful lot of people who would like to see more moderation in politics. moderates -- >> both on the left and the right. >> both on the left and the right. right on immigration, gloria said earlier tonight, clearly in favor of doing something about providing a path for citizenship, but they don't want the president to go too far to the left. there is a chance for them to come together, a moment in all of this, where they can all sort of celebrate democracy. it's a wonderful thing to go through. most countries don't.

>> these moments are always wonderful and we need to give an awful lot of credit to the obama campaign, which ran yet again another terrific campaign. the contents of the campaign are not as great as these moments. we saw a negative, nasty campaign, a small campaign that didn't rise to the kind of joy we see in people's eyes we see today. i think what they are asking for as we go ahead and we look at a congress that has to confront the fiscal cliff, i think they are looking for the congress and the president, even though u.s. a status quo situation to come back in a different frame of mind. >> we should point out -- i want to show the popular vote. right now, mitt romney leading in the popular vote. those numbers could change, but we are projecting the president and barack obama will be re-elected. >> such a divided country as we saw in the exit poll results,

and you see in the division in the popular vote. >> does president obama have to lead differently? >> yes. >> do republicans in congress have to behave differently. >> president obama got one of the rarest things we get in life and politics -- a second chance. he has seen some of his short comings comings tested in a public arena, that he hasn't addressed some of the needs he needs to address. bill clinton stumbled, fell, came back. i hope obama does the same. >> alex was just making the point, he thinks president obama has to lead differently. do you agree with that? >> i'm watching the election. the president will be re-elected, and why did we have an election? there is a reason we have it,

you know. and he's going to -- sure, obama won't get everything he wants. but he should get more of what he wants. >> you think he should interpret this as a mandate? >> no, i don't think it's a mandate. not a mandate. but what they are saying, they are giving him power back. he doesn't have to give up 80% of what he wants. he should get more of what he wants than the republicans, because we had an election. >> he didn't run on what he wanted. he ran on don't go back to what the other guy did. so there is no. >> both candidates said you have a clear choice. they both laid out a vision that was a more laissez-faire vision laid out by mitt romney. and president obama said he wanted to have a very balanced approach when it comes to the deficit. we got a mandate for that. and part of the mandate, taxes will have to be raised on people who have done well in america,

will have to do well by america and pay america back. he has been consistent on that for a year. >> you are looking at the picture in boston. romney's hometown, cheering amongst romney supporters there as well. >> i'm not sure either candidates laid out a true vision. right now is opportunity for both republicans and the president, and i was told that the president, as early as the end of the week, may give an economic speech. >> we're expecting to hear from president obama tonight, as well as from governor romney. we'll bring you those -- both of those speeches as soon as they happen. a lot to digest not only tonight but in the weeks ahead. >> fiscal cliff coming up very, very soon. does need to lay out what

everyone expects him to lay out. >> who needs to give more? obama supporters will say republicans have been intrancegent from ear intrancegent. >> the predominant thought in the mark place, wall street was hoping romney would win, because the combination of the president and the republican congress couldn't get the deal done. something needed to go. >> that's like the republicans get to be rewarded, because democrats couldn't get anything done with republicans. >> the tone in washington is entirely polarized. over 80% of the advertisements in this election were negative. >> so self-destructive. they'll go over the fiscal cliff and cause another recession. i choose not to believe that but i do believe they could come up with a framework of some kind.

>> this beating has been so large, i think you'll find republicans, not accommodating, but very realistic. until they learn how to move far, are you going to find republicans -- right now we're looking at -- >> you see movement on immigration reform? >> i think you see movement right now -- revenues on democrats on upper inform income taxpayers. i don't think they should start with immigration, because it's a very polarizing issue. go to the economic stuff where you will find common ground. don't put immigration on the table first. the fighters will go to their respective corners and become polarized again. >> what's important is to set a new tone. he wants to in effect close the chapter on the first term. and open a new chapter with his relationship with congress.

open a new chapter with a business, because there is hostility there. and i think he -- as churchill would argue, victory anigimoy. i agree he shouldn't give up 80%. >> is that in the president's dna? >> no. he couldn't dig at the same time. that's not what he can do. but the idea that somehow or another obama has to -- the election has to have a consequence, that voters have weighed in tonight, their view has to be respected. yes, i don't know what the imagine number is, but there has to be some movement. >> there are some liberals. >> you know how this works, we've seen it done successfully before. by a talented democrat and his team of operators. bill clinton.

this president, even though he's won, has to do the same thing. >> listen to what he's saying. >> i agree. there is a myth that the president did not want to reach out, many of his efforts were rebuffed. he tried to put forward tax cuts. and put forth help for veterans. put goforth tax cuts for 98% of americans. the republicans have a chance to say we'll take your offer. republicans have an opportunity to behavior differently. shouldn't be just on barack obama. >> here is the thing. the president has to lead. >> fair enough. >> the president has to lead, and in talking to democrats, i think there is a discussion going on right now inside the democratic party about how -- how is best to do that. does the president go and say,

here is my plan. here is what i want to do and put it on the table and have them come to the table and negotiate? or does he just sort of open it up for discussion? >> the battle for obama care, does that -- >> it's settled. settled. >> nothing will happen to it. >> the question, how the democrats interpret this election. if they see this as a big thumping victory because they won the electioral votes, i thik that will lead them down a path that will get them into trouble. they won a very substantial election, but it's worth remembering, i have gone back -- go back to the beginning of the 20th century. every second term president who has won re-election has done so by increasing his share of the vote the second time out. this is the first time we've had a president go from a big percentage to a smaller percentage. and that ought to be -- >> point out if you look at the popular vote right now, getting closer and closer, mitt romney

ahead by 226,000-some odd votes. 63% of the popular vote being reported. brianna keilar with obama supporters who are elated. what are you hearing? >> hi, anderson. i'm here with a 15-year-old supporter of president obama's. she's been volunteering with the obama campaign since she was just 8 years old. what did it feel like to see the projection that president obama has been re-elected? >> it was kind of like, again to 2008. i had the moment again. started crying in 2008 and felt like my hard work paid off. a good feeling. >> so you actually are too young to vote obviously. you're 15. how does it feel to have spent all of this time working to elect someone who you will never be able to vote for? >> it kind of at the same time is a bad feeling. but at the same time, it feels

like so good i can make an impact at such a young age, which i like -- voting wise, kind of sad. i watched my mom fill out her ballot, could i just step in for a second and check it off? but, yeah. >> not quite satisfied. you are hoping next time that you will see what elected? >> a woman! a female for once. like oprah. >> i'm not so sure about that. but as a supporter of president obama's, anderson, has high hopes. spent time doing phone banks and canvassing in iowa and wisconsin, despite the fact that she is three years shy of voting age, anderson. >> we're obviously waiting to hear from president obama and governor romney. if you were joe biden tonight, are you looking at 2016 and getting very excited? >> let's wait until midnight. >> he's got a career still on

"saturday night live." but this does make it difficult for hillary clinton. she leads the administration. james says she has no thoughts of such a thing, and he certainly would know better than i do. it would make it more difficult. >> who would become secretary of state? >> john kerry. >> i don't know if it makes it more difficult. i think president clinton will get a great deal of credit in this. i think secretary of state clinton has done a grote job, i think that's all down the road. one thing we haven't talked about. look what's happening in the senate. you have a democratic point of view, a great night in the senate. you have elizabeth warren, a true progressive hero going in. a stronger liberal basis in the senate. no reason to move to the center recklessly. not about moving from the left to the right. it's about finding a deal that

works for america. the president was willing to do that a year ago. a myth that the president didn't want to cooperate. i think he had a hard time finding a partner because of the tea party. >> you talked about this being a testament to the ground game that president obama put in place, money they devoted to it. you work in the world. explain why was it so significant? >> it looks like -- look at the results. it seems president obama's vote in the battleground states is exceeding his vote outside the battle ground states. and they spent an enormous amount of money, a very sfis dated operation. a lot of people, including me, were very skeptical about it. a lot written about it. >> what was your skepticism early on. >> i don't know the stuff will really work. and it looks like, yes, the details of it, it looks like just based on the back of the

envelope calculation, it probably did work. they are exceeding vote totals in swing states. this will be fodder for political scientists for a long time to come. >> this is highly scientific advanced market segmentation of voters. bush '04 campaign did this, and the obama campaign did it to the nth degree. they overlay consumer preferences with respective voting drencpreferences and they can microtarget e-mailing, knocking on doors, how will they best receive the campaign message? >> it seemed president owe blama did a good job of sort of targeting groups, traditional supporters within the party and energizing them. gay and lesbian voters by switching his position on marriage equality. getting support for that.

he went piece by piece and appealed to them. >> yes. i think romney had more of a national message, obama people very smart about understanding the efforts of the coalition. they did things along the way. so latinos, when they -- you know, they stopped enforcing the laws, and sort of created their own dream act. what they did with women with lilly ledbetter. they actually did some things that, of course, working class wits so important to the midwest. >> and women it seems very important. >> women have put him back in the white house. women made up 54% of the electorate and voted 55% for president obama, and that gender gap was large -- >> romney didn't get enough men to counter balance that.

if you put together this coalition progressive coalition. there are already fears about a grand bargain betrayal of the base that put him back in the white house if the president were to do something -- well, that's the question. if he compromises. >> i want to jump in. i want to go to jim acosta, following the romney campaign. jim. >> yes, that's right. i got off the phone with gail, the communications director of the romney campaign. she tells me about five minutes ago that the romney campaign was not prepared to concede this election to president obama. that may have changed in the last five minutes. i can show you right now, there are i would say dozens filing into the room. a very large number of people

filing into the room. and the stage is sort of being set there around the podium. people gathering for what appears to be a speech. i was told they don't have a timetable for a speech, but there will be a speech later on this evening. but at this point, according to the romney campaign, they aren't prepared to make the concession to presses president obama. >> we have to go to john king at the magic wall. >> one of the reasons there is some pause in the romney campaign. we have called state of ohio. they dispute this. they think they have a shot. very close right now. one thing i was told by an activist. a long-time republican activist. they think they will win this county. more votes come, governor romney caught up. the president ahead by more, if the democrats win this county, the state is gone. the president leading narrowly.

this is why we're confident in our call. even if mitt romney makes up ground in hamilton county in cincinnati, you go up to cleveland, 12% of the population, only half of the votes in. we're confident in our call. toledo, lucas county, 4% of the population. only 12% of the vote, winning 2-1. so the president is doing well across the industrial part. they think ohio is in play. i would argue against that and think florida is in play. very, very close. 3.9 to 3.9. 50,000 votes. just shy of that. when you look at the map and say, okay, find me the republican votes, pick your conservative county. pig anything ready. 100% in, 100% in.

and you look at places where democrats votes are still out. that one has filled in, and coming over here, 97%, 99%. you lock at the map. want to give any campaign the benefit of the doubt. we haven't called this one yet. but it's hard to find a place where they make up the votes and since last we spoke, the president of the united states has moved ahead of battleground virginia. the romney math getting hard. only 80% will watch this one. mr. carville, we wanted to see norfolk city coming in. the president made up a lot of ground there, and more of the northern virginia suburbs have come, the president, fairfax county, almost 60/40, more votes to count there. the president winning big. alexandria city, come into the

areas here. where the votes are out in virginia, they are mostly out in democratic areas. the romney campaign wants to wait. can't blame them. but when you look at the map, whether this map or looking more importantly at this map, we have the president over the top, president got 365 electoral votes last time. if he runs the board. he'll get 330, 331 i think. maybe one or two for governor romney. but warm up the fat lady. >> one more electoral vote, john. we projected that in the state of maine, we earlier projected he would get three of the four electoral votes. the fourth electoral vote in the state of maine will go to the president. that numbers will go up to 274 to 275. another one electoral vote for the president. the magic number 270. with ohio, he has enough to win. let's take a closer look at the votes right now and see where we

stand right now. in the remaining states we're watching, virginia, 86% of the vote is in in virginia, president ahead by 21,716 votes in virginia. virginia, still 13 electoral votes in virginia. very, very close. colorado right now, 70% of the vote is in in colorado. the president is ahead, 51% to 47%. got an advantage of 60,000 plus votes in colorado. so those two states we're counting the votes closely there as well. in florida, 91% of the vote is in. the president slightly ahead. 50% to 49%. an advantage of 47,000 plus votes. in nevada, 63% of the vote is in. 5 4% for the president. 44% for mitt romney. and those are the states we have not yet made projections on. you see the president is doing

well. take a look at the popular vote right now. 65% of the national vote is now in the president is now ahead, slightly ahead by 166,000 votes over mitt romney. excuse me. romney is ahead. excuse me. romney ahead by 166,544 vote. gone up to 172,000 votes, he is ahead of the president, 66,000 votes. but still counting votes in california. the largest state in the united states. and that's the state that the president will carry. we projected that the president will win in california. so we'll see where that popular vote goes. if the president loses the popular vote, but wins the electoral votes. won't be the first time that happened. back in 2000, as a lot of viewers remember, al gore won the popular vote by half a million votes and lost the presidency, because he didn't have enough votes in the electoral vote.

more projections to make. nevada, we project that the president will win in nevada. will carry six electoral votes. 63% of vote is in. the president has a significant 54- 54-44-point lead. he now has 280 electoral votes. he needed 270. he is building building up another cushion. waiting for florida, virginia, colorado. >> yes, and alaska. let's assume alaska stays to republican dna. >> close at 1:00 a.m. >> i'll make you some scrambled eggs. at the moment, the president is leading in colorado, the president has a narrow lead in virginia, and the president has a narrow lead in florida. the president could get up above 3:30. 356 electoral votes when he beat

john mccain four years ago. light states are called at home. what is the final map, what are the takeaways. taken away north carolina. the president won last time. governor romney taken away indiana, and the president won last time. if this is how we end up, republicans will be profoundly disappointed, not only in losing when you have no president since franklin roosevelt won with an unemployment rate above 7.1%. president obama making history, again, if you will republicans will be disappointed in losing and disappointing when they look at the back when all they got back is very traditional republican states. they narrowly won that and won indiana, and so if you look at the map and are you a democrat, you have to give them credit. they identified people who might or will vote for us learn how to

turn them out on election day. mr. carville talking about earlier, an impressive operation. if you switch the map over here, let's check real quick. very close, very close. 91%, and i've been searching these counties, wolf. most of the vote out in democratic leaning areas. hard to see it happening. virginia, the president passed governor romney in virginia. most of the votes out in democratic areas. colorado, republicans really wanted to get this one back. you see the edge right now. not impossible, but the president doing what he had to do in places like jefferson county. a narrow win, winning the suburbs, 1%. come up to adams county here, a narrow win for the president. the president doing what he has to do. i want to show you one thing. a lot of conversation from analysts about what happens now, how do we govern. the republicans will keep the house, we know president obama

with a popular vote loss and smaller electoral college win. will there be a mandate? compromise? i want to show you something. this is by county, the vote for president across the country. most counties are voting republican for president tonight. the president wins in urban areas and big suburbs, but look across the country, this is a center right country, even though a center left president, some would say a left president is winning re-election tonight. we'll win with 30 republican governors, a republican house, and we'll have a civil war perha perhaps. you can answer this better than me. an ideological civil war in the republican party. when the president says time to raise taxes on the rich, these people will say no. from a governing standpoint, a lot of question marks. >> a win is a win is a win, and

the president will be the leader of the country the next four years, something that will energize the base, energize all of the democrats out there. so you got to give the president a lot of credit for putting the coalition back together and winning and maybe even not necessarily the popular vote, but electoral college pretty decisive. >> we're comfortable in the call. but the map sometimes tells me things. the map just switched. mitt romney leading in the actual vote count of the state of ohio. a lot of votes still out. we come down to akron, summit county, votes out. the president winning there. very confident in our call. we'll watch it, and lucas county, the president winning much of the vote out there, i was struck by looking city map when it turned back this way. the moral of the story, mitt romney running a closer race and to a degree, a much closer race

than jon mccain. a close second is still second. >> we're waiting to hear speeches from the president of the united states and mitt romney. so far, you have just heard jim acosta, romney not ready to concede. >> a number of state ballot initiatives we want to get you up to date. on marriage equality and marijuana in a couple of the states. get you numbers as soon as we have them. more with then panel. where does the republican party go from here? how do they see this? >> generationally, you know, nothing new grew in the shade of the big bush tree. we missed that generation. it's ripening now. the marco rubbos, bobby jindals, martinez, even jeb bush. those are the folks who need to step up and lead the party, otherwise, if it's the same old guys in washington, then we will

have -- >> where does the tea party fit into all of this? >> the tea party isn't a social issues party. the tea party is about fiscal control. if something is done to put our fiscal house in order, the tea party will become less of a factor. government has become this crazy thing that allows all of us to take more of each other's money than any of us actually has. something has to do something about that. yes, barack obama, won a mandate tonight, i think he did i'm for bigger government? government needs to be a bigger part of your life. >> i don't recall him saying i am for bigger government. >> he advocated a government-centered society. >> listen -- >> that's your spin, i get that. i want to speak a little bit about the democratic party.

what this means to us. nobody believed four years ago in this country you could put together -- you could have black folks and lesbians and gays and latinos and young folk, standing together to move the country forward. we're in a world where we don't want to be thrown overboard into the global economy without a government partner. we want our government to help us in the same way others do. we want to make progress as a society. here is my problem. there is vindication here. we felt like this man was being demonized. but he was being turned into some sort of a cartoon character. and a lot of african-americans go if barack obama is not acceptable who is going to be acceptable? a clean-cut, good father, hard worker, somebody who cares about the country, and he has integrity. he has somebody who was mistreated in our view by people

who would rather see him fail than see america succeed. there is vindication. we see people cheering out there because. vindication. >> do you think that's become -- that has led to the high turnout. >> let's give democrats credit. a backlash against backlash. african-americans stepping up. young people stepping up. latinos stepping up. people standing in line for hours and hours and hour and hours. saying we're a better country than we've been seeing on the attacks on this president. and i'm proud of america, proud of this coalition. >> it is entirely possible and i hope we've come to a place in america that even a black man can be a bad president. in other words, this had nothing to do with race and why barack obama was demonized. he came into office and he spent our country farther into bankruptcy.

>> some of the rhett rick, doubting about his birth certificate. you don't think that had a backlash effect on some voters? >> i think that's won of the worst parts of the republican party and alienated a lot of people in the suburbs. but to say that's the only reason republicans voted. >> james. >> look, first of all, the man won re-election, okay? that counts for something. my point, the consequences are employing to be dramatic. the republican party has to reassess itself. the tea party has cost them five senate seats. i don't know the value of the senate seat, but it's very high. nevada, colorado, delaware, indiana. >> cross control of the senate. >> they have to figure out how to come to terms with people, because they can't afford -- they can't live with them, can't live without them. >> candy crowley, standing by at

romney headquarters, obviously a very different mood. >> really different, and errson. th a quiet crowd all night long. subdued, waiting. they did see an analysis on another network about why the ohio numbers might not be right. that gave them some cause for cheering. right now we're wondering about what will happen here with the romney campaign. they are up in their rooms, and i ask last time, about a half an hour ago, what are you doing? and i was told they are polling the numbers. not ready to concede and they are sitting here waiting to see what mitt romney is going to do. >> and at this point, do we know what the romney campaign is doing? governor romney clearly not at this point ready